Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The Dragon(fly)'s Lair

Pasadena Daily Photo was born on January first of this year. In an early post I talked about the Central Arroyo Stream Restoration project, spearheaded by the Arroyo Seco Foundation. To quote their website, "the Central Arroyo Seco subwatershed begins immediately below Devil’s Gate Dam and terminates at the Colorado Street Bridge crossing."

I took a walk through there and I can tell you, they're making fine progress. It's positively sylvan down there. I'd expect to see hobbits or trolls or even Minnipins. Yeah, you can still see the earth movers under the bridge. You can also see the progress those earth movers have made.

And I don't know where they got those dragonflies. They're magnificent. It's just hard to get a picture of one.

18 comments:

It looks so peaceful and beautiful there. Im sure there are some faeries there too.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once said "We see objects within the limits which make up our colour spectrum, with infinite vibrations, unused by us, on either side of them. If we could conceive a race of beings which were made of matter which threw out shorter or longer vibrations, they would be invisible unless we could tune ourselves up, or tone them down." He goes on to add.. "It is exactly that power of tuning up and adapting itself to other vibrations which constitutes a clairvoyant, and there is nothing scientifically impossible, so far as I can see, in some people seeing that which is invisible to others."

Well said. And almost 100 years later, Sir Doyles words still hold true.

This is one of the things I love about the San Gabriel Valley. Within a short period of time, you can be in a natural area that's so peaceful and beautiful you forget, for a little while at least, that there's a big city with all those people close by.

Yeah for Pasadena and the project you were able to visit and photograph. Not enough cities are doing this so it is a real treat to see one like Pasadena who is leading the way. I hope the city has some information that they can email to other cities who might be interested in what they have done. I know I would like to get it for our city.

It does look sylvan. What a perfect description! Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were all able to find some little place to "take back" in every community? On second thought, I am sure finding a little place isn't the issue, but perhaps having the force of will to see it through.

You are witnessing the near-completion of $2.5 million Central Arroyo Restoration Project sponsored by the City of Pasadena and the Arroyo Seco Foundation.

Crews and volunteers have removed invasive plants, planted native California trees, created a system to capture oil and grease runoff from nearby parking lots, and renovated the streambed to provide a better home for native California Chub fish. Crews also installed more than 300 stormwater capture screens to keep trash and debris out of the stream.

To volunteer, call (626) 304-3417.

For more information about Arroyo Seco projects visit www.cityofpasadena.net (click on Arroyo Seco under "Hot Topics").

Shirtees, when I saw those big, orange dragonflies I thought of Doyle and his faeries.

Welcome, Barbara. I enjoyed your post today, too.

We were saying that as we walked in the Arroyo, Keith. One of the reasons we love it here.

Haven't seen it Lily, but it sounds like my kind of film.

Abe, see Pasadena PIO's info below. I also have the Arroyo Seco Foundation as a permanent link on my main page. And thank you for noticing: Pasadena often does lead the way in things like this. (A very "green conscious" city.) Another reason I love it here!

Kelly: force of will, plus money. But I imagine force of will is how the money gets raised.

PasadenaPIO: When I was at the tree planting ceremony in January I thought "Is 2.5 enough? Have they given themselves enough time?" Now I'm amazed at how much they've done so quickly. It looks like people did what they said they'd do.

Yeah, usE. Down by the riverside, where a few months ago there was basically no river.

Abe's said it well. More cities should be aware of the strides your city is making to clean up and restore nature. It takes vision, desire, and a lot of hard work. I applaud Pasadena's efforts. Bravo! This photo is indeed a sanctuary!

Yes, it's truly lookin ever more sylvan & wonderful down in the Arroyo - and it's supposed to get even better!But we up here on the street are having a harder time seeing the mountains from Colorado Blvd., the last couple of yrs. Keep up the good pic-shootin.

Life Observer, I wish you weren't correct. I once posted a photo ofsmog above Pasadena, but that was back in March. What we've got now is white-gray sky, especially since the Gaviota fire. June gloom never left, although it seems to be slowly drifting away.